News of the Weird: Elusive Perps; The Country Afraid of Its Own Shadow

By
Chuck Shepherd

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Armed-robbery convict Edward Nathan Jr. escaped from a Florida work-release center in 1983 and, as "Claude Brooks" and other identities, managed to avoid police for the next 27 years, until he slipped up in December in Atlanta -- arrested after being caught urinating in public. He was returned to Florida and charged with escape. [WJXT-TV (Jacksonville, Fla.), 1-26-2011]

Accused thief Anthony Darwin, 30, who had successfully eluded authorities in Wisconsin since 2004, turned himself in to Sheriff Bob Spoden in Janesville in January, apparently only because he needs treatment for cancer. However, not wanting to pay for the expensive surgery, Spoden asked a judge to dismiss the arrest warrant and put Darwin back on the street. (Judge Alan Bates released Darwin for treatment, which will surely be paid for by the taxpayer, although perhaps not on the sheriff's account.) [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1-28-2011]

Britain's Oxfordshire County Council, which oversees youth swimming classes, banned goggles from the pools in February because of the fear that kids might snap the elastic bands and hurt their eyes. [Daily Telegraph, 2-25-2011]

Malvern Primary School in Huyton, Merseyside, recently banned play with regulation soccer balls because they are made of leather. "Football," it ruled, must be played with less-dangerous sponge balls. [BBC News, 2-24-2011]